Magnetic earrings with interchangeable ornaments



July 3, 1956 H. B. LEDERER MAGNETIC EARRINGS WITH INTERCHANGEABLEORNAMENTS Filed Nov. 23, 1955 FIG. I.

llllll FIG. .4.

Pie. 3.

INVENTOR. HENRY B. LED Q ATTORNEY United States Patent MAGNETIC EARRINGSWITH INTER- CHANGEABLE ORNAMENTS Henry B. Lederer, New York, N. Y.

Application November 23, 1955, Serial No. 548,716

1 Claim. (Cl. 63-29) This invention relates to earrings, and morespecifically to earrings with interchangeable ornaments, such asprecious or semi-precious, or artificial stones or other ornamentalparts. The purpose of the invention is the creation of a type ofearrings in which such ornamentation may be easily and quickly removedand replaced by other ornaments by the wearer, permitting her to changethe color of the stone, or the type of ornamentation to fit her taste,her dress or the occasion; a further purpose of the invention is toprovide a single pair of earrings with a variety of interchangeablestones, buttons or other ornaments, to be sold as a unit, permitting thepurchaser a variety of combinations. Other advantages and novel featuresof the invention will become apparent from the following specificationif considered together with the drawings attached hereto and formingpart of same, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of an earring embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is identical with Fig. 3 with the body of the earring and theremovable ornament separated.

Like numbers refer to identical parts in all drawings.

In an earring of conventional type, the body of the earring 11 has aflat magnet permanently attached to it, surrounded by a collar 13, saidcollar having an opening 14 on its periphery. The removable button, orother ornamentation 12 fits into the cup created by the collar 13, andhas, on its inside a flat armature 16 which rests on the flat magnet 15mounted on the body of the earring 11 when the unit is assembled, asshown in Fig. 3. In the assembled position, collar 13 will prevent anylateral motion, or sliding off of the button 12 which thus will be keptfirmly in place by the magnetic forces between magnet 15 and armature16, and separation will be possible only in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the attaching surfaces, the direction in which themagnetic forces otfer the greatest resistance. This reducessubstantially the hazard of accidentally losing the ornamental portion12 of the earring.

To facilitate voluntary separation of the ornamental portion 12 from thebody of the earring 11, the collar 13 is provided with a small opening14 on its periphery, permitting the user to insert a fingertip orfingernail into the wedge between the earring and the detachably mountedornament, and push the ornamental button 12 in an outward direction,perpendicular to the magnetic surfaces 15 and 16 at which the two partsare joined.

Of course, changes in arrangement, in the shape and size of the partsmay be made, the respective position of magnet and armature might beexchanged, or even two magnets might be used, or the principle of theinvention may be applied to other kind or type of jewelry whereinterchangeability of ornaments is desired, without departing from thespirit of the invention as defined in the following claim in which theexpression wedge is intended to refer to the space of any form andnarrowness which makes the entering of a separating tool, or evenfingernail possible between the earring and the removable ornament.

I claim as my invention:

An earring or the like, having a detachably mounted ornament, saidearring and said ornament being provided with mutually magneticallyattractive elements, said ornament being provided with a flangeextending beyond said magnetic element attached to said ornament, saidearring being provided with a lip extending around the surface of thecooperating magnetic member mounted on said earring and spacedtherefrom, thereby defining a groove corresponding to the flange of saidornament, said lip being provided with at least one opening along itsperiphery, said detachably mounted ornament forming a wedge at saidopening with the bottom of said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,008,382 Bennett July 16, 1935 2,397,931 Ellis Apr. 9, 1946 2,601,424Baker June 24, 1952 2,637,887 Goodman May 12, 1953

